The rapid development of the Internet and the World Wide Web has primarily focused on these technologies as vehicles for online commerce for the distribution of their products. From a commercial perspective, “distribution” includes the two distinct phases of purchase and delivery. Many companies only support the purchase phase online. Typically, this is done by providing an online catalog of products and enabling a consumer to view the catalogs and provide payment information, such as a credit card, to the company's Web site. The purchased merchandise is then delivered off-line by mailing to the purchaser. Overwhelmingly, the majority of products purchased in this manner are traditional non-digital media, such as books, clothing, food products, and the like. Even digital media, such as computer software, video, and audio is purchased in this manner, with product selection and purchase being made online but the delivery being made conventionally by mailing the digital media to the purchaser on a conventional medium such as floppy diskette, CD-ROM, video cassette, audio tape or audio CD.
In contrast to conventional online purchase-off-line distribution systems, a complete system for the online distribution of digital media, such as digital audio, would provide online support for both the purchase and delivery phases. Such an online distribution system presents a number of special challenges not associated with non-digital products. For example, with conventional distribution of music on CD and cassette tapes, losses from copyright infringement from illegal copying of music are estimated at about $1 billion worldwide, annually. The susceptibility of digital audio to unauthorized copying, and the ability to create perfect duplicates, raises the specter of even more significant losses to the music industry, and has been the single greatest factor in the music industry's reluctance to make music available for purchase over the Internet. Thus, an online music purchase and distribution system must be demonstratively secure from a large variety of attacks and misuses in order to preserve the music owner's intellectual property rights.
At least three types of risks are present in the online distribution of music. First, there is a considerable security risk in simply maintaining digital media products in computer systems connected to public networks such as the Internet for access by consumers. In order to effectively enable purchasers to review and purchase digital media, the audio distributor's computer system storing such media must be networked. However, given the commercial value of such digital media, whether audio data, video data, software, or the like, such sites would be likely targets of computer-based attacks. Further, the very presence of an online commerce system is itself an inducement to ‘crackers’ to attempt to break the security controls of such a system and gain access thereto. Thus, an online music distribution system for digital media must be secure from such direct attacks. Further, if the online music distribution system is compromised, it is desirable that the underlying media itself be secure against unauthorized copying.
Similarly, the protocols and transmission mechanisms by which an online music distribution system delivers digital audio to a legitimate purchaser must also be secure, to prevent unauthorized users from intercepting deliveries of the audio and related media over the network.
Finally, once the audio product has been delivered to a user, it must be made secure against unauthorized duplication by the user or by others.
These constraints on an online music distribution system are in conflict with many of the features consumers want in terms of flexibility and ease of use. In particular regard to the purchase of audio data, such as songs and related media (e.g., the lyrics, graphics, liner notes which typically accompany conventional retail forms of audio) consumers want to be able to sample audio products prior to purchasing. It is desirable for such an online music distribution system then to provide some mechanism by which users can play limited portions of songs and view related media without having to purchase the song. In addition, a consumer should be able to pass on preview music to other potential new customers.
Similarly, purchasers of music in traditional forms such as compact disc or cassettes are accustomed to simple, easy to use consumer devices, such as portable compact disc players to tape players. For the successful distribution of music over the Internet, the security requirements must not unduly interfere with consumer's ease of use of the system. A consumer should be able to purchase and playback audio easily and securely. However, the security measures, particularly the encryption mechanisms, should make the purchased audio unusable outside of the specific devices and mechanism designed to cooperate with the distribution system.
Similarly, consumers are accustomed to being able to play music purchases anywhere they can carry a CD and CD player. Consumers will expect similar portability when purchasing digital media over the Internet. Accordingly, a desirable online music distribution system should allow a consumer to playback purchased audio not merely on a single computer, but on any platform equipped with an appropriately licensed playback device and the licensee's personal identification.
Also, given the very high audio fidelity available today with conventional CD products, audio purchased over the Internet from an online music distribution system must have at least the same level of fidelity, or otherwise consumers will not purchase such products. Thus, any encryption or compression methods used must not induce significant signal loss, or impair playback performance.
There already exists today various forms of online payment processing systems, such as credit card and debit card authorization systems. In addition, many new forms of online payment are now developing, and will continue to develop in the future, including digital cash, micropayments, and the like. Accordingly, an online music distribution system should not require a single form of payment, or use a proprietary payment processing system. Rather, a desirable online music distribution system should be adaptable to integrate with all forms of payment processors. Similarly, many merchants are now providing their own online commerce servers from which they offer and distribute products as the retail vendor of such products. A desirable online music distribution system should integrate with any variety of merchant systems.
An online music distribution system should also allow for the recovery of secured audio content by consumers who have lost the identification or other security information (such as an encryption key) required to use their purchases. In addition, independent agencies which police copyright infringements should also be able to recover infringing copies, and identify the creator of such infringements.